Help Wanted

Ever wondered what it was like to watch an MLS match from the press box?

Ever wanted to shoot photos of a professional game from the sideline?

Got smart opinions or analysis to share?

Want to help?

The Philly Soccer Page needs volunteer writers and editors.

If you’re interested, please email dwalsh@phillysoccerpage.com. Please send 1-3 writing/photography samples, tell us about your soccer and writing/photography backgrounds, and let us know what interests you at PSP. As PSP is run fully by volunteers, we demand only as much time of you as you have to give.

Here are some of the topics we know we want covered, but there is plenty more than this. Basically, if it’s soccer and linked to the Philadelphia media market — which stretches from Delaware and Cape May on north to Trenton and the Poconos and west to Harrisburg — then we’re interested. And just because you start with us writing about one thing, it doesn’t mean you’ll always do that. All our top Union writers started off writing about other things.

Here’s what we need.

Daily news roundup curator(s)

PSP seeks writer(s) to round up the day’s soccer news 1-2 mornings per week. These roundups should cover at least 10-12 interesting news stories of the day worth reading, with an emphasis on the local. We can help newcomers by showing them how we’ve historically done it, using Google Alerts to bring the news to your inbox an make the task more efficient. This is the first post PSP runs each weekday morning, and we aim to get it live as early as possible — ideally by 10 a.m. 1-2 posts per week.

Writers for Fans’ View

We’re looking for writers for our Fans’ View feature. This is a weekly feature handled by a rotating team of four writers in which you write about what it’s like to be a fan, sharing views, experiences, etc. We aim for a broad spectrum of views and representation of voices, which is why we rotate much of the team yearly. Some points of view we’ve never had include fans writing about the minor league experience (Bethlehem Steel, Penn FC, Ocean City Nor’easters, Junior Lone Star FC, Reading United, etc.); women’s soccer; scholastic soccer (college/high school); what it’s like being part of a Union supporters group (Bearfight Brigade, Sons of Ben, etc.); and more. 1 post every 4 weeks.

Writers

We’re looking for writers interested in joining our general rotation of writers. This could entail covering Philadelphia Union, Bethlehem Steel, Penn FC, Reading United, Ocean City Nor’easters and other local soccer clubs and events. It also means handling other regular features, such as Player of the Week and local, grass roots soccer coverage. If this seems daunting, don’t worry. We have been at this for years and can train you so that, by the time you do your first home game alone, you’ve already taken a few test runs alongside one of our veteran writers. Our team of Union writers is mostly full now, but we there’s usually room for talent to break through. For example, one writer joined us in 2017 and picked up all the small stuff we needed as a utility guy. By 2018, he had broken through as our No. 2 Union writer, covering the club at home games, news conferences, etc.

Bethlehem Steel FC writer

It’s mentioned above, but it’s worth doubly stressing: We need 1-2 writers to join our Bethlehem Steel FC coverage team. That entails coverage of home and away games (home coverage in person, ideally; road games via YouTube) and writing a column on the team every few weeks. 1 post per 1-2 weeks on average.

Graphic designer

We’re looking for someone to create graphics for use at the Philly Soccer Page. Some may simple, such as editing images to use the logos of two teams that are facing off against each other for previews. Others may be more creative, such as creating better logos for use in our video and other features.

Editor/copy editor

Each weekday morning, we have someone read each post before it goes live, edit and proofread it, and then schedule it to go live. (Much of this can be done the night before when our writers file their pieces early enough.) We’re looking for volunteers to take on this task 1-2 mornings per week. This can be done in 30-60 minutes each day.

Other topics: Minor league, college and high school soccer

We’re desperately looking to add content on college and high school soccer, the local PDL clubs (Ocean City Nor’easters, Reading United, Lehigh Valley United), other amateur soccer, and other soccer topics of note in the Philadelphia area (features on good soccer pubs, soccer culture, etc.).

Webmaster

We could use someone to be our tech guru on the back end, handling backups, upgrades, and troubleshooting, while simultaneously looking for ways to technically improve the site.